Describes a program to develop students' oral language skills, a critical component of language arts in the preschool through sixth-grade curriculum. States that, for each level, a master list was comprised to help teachers discuss the creation of a continuum of oral language objectives. Finds the program made teachers, parents, and students…

Although inclusion is recommended as "best practice," there is little implementation research from the parent's viewpoint. This article presents the experiences of one mother actively involved in making inclusion work for her child. Tracey's story focuses on the importance of developing parent-professional partnerships to secure a…

Proposes an alternative structure for the accreditation visiting teams of the North Central Association, advocating the organization of teams into five smaller, interdisciplinary units. Describes suggested team activities, benefits for faculty serving on interdisciplinary teams, and suggestions for schools interested in implementing the team…

The City of Phoenix offers a five-day river-based camping experience to at-risk and disabled teens. Describes how professional river outfitters are contracted to run the trips, staffing considerations, liability and safety considerations, and camper orientation. Evaluation showed that participants received lasting measurable benefits, including…

Synthetic estimation, key informant interviews, a telephone survey of agency directors, program budget analysis, construction of a statistical index for estimating optimum allocation of resources, and a review of legislation were among the techniques used to develop a statewide comprehensive substance abuse prevention program for Rhode Island.…

The concept of secondary teacher training as a partnership between schools and higher education was formalized in Great Britain during the early 1990s. This paper considers how aspects of this new policy are working in the context of the Post Graduate Certificate of Education course, highlighting the partnership concept and individual…

Addresses the managed health care initiatives which impact the way that social workers deliver services to people with severe mental illness. Recommends social workers stay abreast of developments in managed care, use efficacy information more systematically, and promote consumer involvement in the design, implementation, and monitoring of managed…

Provides a description and evaluation of a community-wide implementation of a parenting program. Results indicate that it is possible to take a population health approach to parenting, successfully involve multiple services and professionals in the delivery of the program, and maintain the effectiveness of the parenting intervention in a…

Implements and evaluates a positive parenting program intervention with Chinese parents. Results reveal significant improvements on the Prosocial Behavior Score. Given the unwillingness of some parents to complete questionnaires, the difficulties encountered in conducting evaluation in cross-cultural contexts are discussed, along with…

Provides an overview of this special issue that examines the implementation of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) Initiative in seven local communities. An overview of the SS/HS Initiative is provided. Critical lessons learned from the seven sites are discussed with a focus on the special role that school psychologists can play in…

The Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative in Pinellas County, FL, emerged as a part of a broader local effort to implement creative educational and mental health programs to support children and families. Describes Pinellas County's plan, and highlights the instrumental roles played by school psychologists, which included grant writing, program…

Describes the development and implementation of the distance education program at Peirce College. This Internet-mediated distance learning program focuses on practical fields of study, drawing on the college's strengths in business administration, information technology, and paralegal studies. (SLD)

This article describes a peer coaching model implemented in two elementary schools that included the following steps: identify coaches and their needs; identify learning buddies with similar needs; set up a schedule; determine supervision process; plan lessons; implement coaching sessions; reflect on lesson; and evaluate the model. (Contains…

Discusses assessment of student academic achievement, how librarians can participate, the role of the Higher Learning Commission's assessment matrix and accredited institutions, examples of strategies institutions have used to deal with challenges to implementing useful assessment programs, and examples of indirect and direct measures of student…

Identifies themes in the theoretical literature on policy implementation that can be used to develop a research-based framework about how qualitative research can be used to analyze policy implementation through the investigation of informal and formal communication lines. (SLD)